FLUG REVUE January 2004: A380 cockpit development outlined

IN THE COCKPIT OF THE A380

By Sebastian Steinke

Nice airport, runway 22 left. Airbus chief test pilot Jacques Rosay slides the power levers to the limited, “flex” take-off power setting and the four-engined giant jet obediently starts moving. At Rosay's command, “Rotate”, a light pull on the sidestick causes the A380 to gently raise its nose, and we are flying. Despite its huge size and mass, the ultra-large aircraft does not behave at all like a ponderous monster in the sky, but responds sensitively, like all the other members of the Airbus family to date. After a short circuit above the virtual Mediterranean off the Cape of Antibes, the FLUG REVUE journalist in the left seat succeeds at the very first go in gently landing the aircraft in this A380 cockpit development simulator with the aid of the electronic indicator needle of the flight director.

“When one considers how many decades the A380 is expected to be flying, its cockpit must last at least to the middle of the century,” explains chief test pilot Rosay. “But the present A340 cockpit concept dates from the 1980s. Today we therefore face the question of which proven features of present Airbus models we should adopt so as to retain the family-wide commonality and keep conversion training time down, and where we should introduce new elements so as to remain innovative and utilise technical advances.” The requirement is that the A380 pilot conversion course should take only eight days to complete.

To assist with this problem, the flight simulator mentioned above allows the Airbus development engineers to try out four different variants of the A380 cockpit in parallel. For this purpose the seamless special film screen of the computer-controlled visual system is swivelled on a crane in front of the windows of one of four canopies which corresponds to the particular cockpit variant that is currently under investigation, and the test can begin.

It has already been decided that the A380 will have a novel additional input device for the flight management system (FMS), namely, a “palmpad” with track ball, situated next to the small FMS keypads. This mushroom-shaped palm rest performs the same control functions as a computer mouse, but it can be operated more steadfastly in turbulence and under strong vibration, as Airbus has established in its own series of tests.

In the future the interactive cockpit navigation displays, which are controlled by a click action from the palmpad, will show the topographical profile being overflown so as to improve the pilots' situational awareness, as controlled flight into terrain (CFIT) is one of the main causes of aviation accidents these days.

To ensure that the different procedures required for different types of precision and non-precision approach make fewer demands on pilots in the future, for the first time Airbus is offering a virtual ILS glide path in the A380. Here, if required, the electronics generate the familiar, proven cockpit displays in the style of a classic ILS guide beam from the available approach data (ILS, MLS, GLS, GPS, RNAV, VOR/DME, VOR, NDB, etc.). After touchdown, the automatic brakes can be adjusted precisely to a target speed on a particular taxiway, and maximum braking power will only be applied when specifically requested. Electronic maps of the airport layout with all the taxiways on two additional monitors on either side of the cockpit will improve pilot orientation on the ground.

But the Airbus developers have even more innovations in store. Thus, for example, as on the longer A340-600, taxiing on the ground will be facilitated by allowing the pilots to view the images from cameras positioned on the fuselage and vertical tailplane. Video views of the cockpit door, the cargo bay and even under the fuselage are also possible. However, the wingtips will not be in view of the cameras, but instead will be monitored in the conventional manner by looking out of the extensive cockpit windows to check that there is enough space as the A380 taxies on the apron.

The primary controls will continue to be the familiar sidesticks, with the captain's sidestick taking priority. Again, engine performance will also continue to be regulated by Airbus-typical power levers whose movement does not accurately reflect the present thrust setting. As Rosay explains, “Engine output is displayed and monitored on the relevant displays (as a percentage of maximum thrust) and not indirectly through the lever position. Moreover, the servo lever drives could fail or jam and then create confusion.” The two trim wheels to the side of the centre pedestal finally belong to the past and will be replaced on the A380 by an electronic trim switch.

The pull-out tables in front of the pilots are to be supplemented in each case by a large standard keyboard with the more user-friendly, familiar QWERTY layout rather than the “ABC” layout on previous data entry devices. This will finally enable the pilots to request data and electronic manuals and to enter detailed text down to internal e-mails to the hangar, in the normal seated position. Moreover, these keyboards are expressly “coffee-proof”, as Jacques Rosay confirms, as it is a common occurrence for coffee-flavoured liquid to slosh through an airliner cockpit during turbulence. At the same time two printers will be available in the “paperless cockpit” if required.

Behind the two pilots' seats, flanked by two jump seats, is a permanent seat for an observer, along with fold-out computer terminal for maintenance activities on the ground. Just behind the cockpit wall lie two separate sleeping compartments for alternate flightcrew.

Back to the cockpit design. Two head-up displays (HUD) are offered just as an option. “We are still defining the display content at the moment,” says Jacques Rosay. “But our basic policy has already been decided, namely, we will avoid superimposing too much information on the sky at once and present only minimal information such as the artificial horizon and the speed vector.” It seems certain that there will not be any terrain data on the HUD to start with, and only two-dimensional displays. But one day it is perfectly conceivable that the HUD could also be used to display electronic enhanced vision systems (EVS), for example, to overlay infrared camera images or electronic map reliefs.

According to Rosay, the advantages of HUDs today are lower minima on bad weather CAT I approaches and lower visibility minima along the runway on take-off (RVR). In addition, for the pilot the transition phase between pure instrument approach and looking to the outside for a visually controlled or monitored touchdown is a lot easier. For this reason Airbus is apparently planning to offer head-up displays in future in other models, not just on the A380.

From page 88 of FLUG REVUE 1/2004

Last updated 9 December 2003

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